EVERY JOB & VISA THAT I'VE HAD IN FRANCE | My life as an Expat in Paris 

You are really patient and brave Rosie. I really admire you.

Great video, Rosie! I have several students for whom the information you provided will be so helpful 😊

You videos keep me sane. Just knowing that there's someone who has successfully passed the obstacles that I am experiencing makes me feel a whole lot better! Can't wait for your next video!

Can’t wait for your video about finding English jobs in France! Love this info about the visas and your story :) Lots of love from NZ!

Your videos are very, very helpful for the young expats here in France. We can receive a lot of information. It is more interesting this way (whatching a youtube video), hearing the story from a real person who had an experience, than reading boring aricles. So, please continue with this kind of videos concerning the jobs, the studies and the life in general in France. 😊🌷

This was so helpful and motivational. I have thought of the idea but haven't looked much into it. Think I will now!

I'm so happy to know you also work for L'Oréal!! I'm living this visa struggle but with the APS moving to Talent Visa, I love your channel!!!

I absolutely love your channel and I watch your videos every week. I guess I like living vicariously through your experiences in France!

Excellent video, like all the others you make. I really enjoy your channel. I'm currently on this transition phase to go there for an MBA and I'm trying to understand how these processes towards visa and work in English are in reality. Thank you so much for sharing!

Thank you for sharing. It’s hard to believe how complicated it is!

I'm currently looking for an internship or job in France after finishing my masters here and this video was so helpful!! Would absolutely love the video on finding english work here! It's proving to be difficult!

Thanks for sharing your story and I share the pains in going through all the Visa processes in France! I'm also on the relationship visa as my boyfriend who I'm living with for two years is French. However that was not our first choice back then. I have a master degree in business from one of the top Belgian business schools and had international working experiences. L'oreal offered me a CDD (also to cover for someone on maternal leave)but they could't sponsor me for a visa due to it's not a CDI! In the end I got fed up with all the visa process and rejections from companies simply because of that, so I decided to do an extra study in software engineering and at same time waiting for my relationship visa. Few months went by, and voila I got a CDI in one of the most famous French companies and still happily working here :) It for sure takes much lots of efforts, energy and patience in the French visa process. Be strong :)

Thank you for sharing! I've always wanted more details on how people do it!

Great video!! That’s so crazy that you, married to a French man and French expert did my get a 10year visa. If not you than who??!!! I’m on a long stay visa for a year here in France. You do have to show you have the cash and living arrangements you can not work on a long stay visitor visa and the catch 22 is if you can’t work you can’t rent an apartment no matter if you have the money. I’ve found my way but it hasn’t been easy!!

Nobody believes me when I tell this, but as you said, in France, right now, even with the people currently in charge describing the Rassemblement National's political program "France first" as regressive and populist, when you hire a foreigner, you have to justify that you tried to hire french people, and you pay a tax. Congrats for coaxing your visa from the french administration :) I have a korean employee, when I asked her the quality she possessed she thought the most useful in France, she said resilience!

hi Rosie sorry to hear about your rejection, thank you for all the time and information you spent on this video

Hi Rosie, great video as usual, thank you! I only have a small comment about the "passeport talent" visa you mentioned at 7:04 in your video. When you fill all the criteria you talked about, you don't automatically get the "passeport talent" visa, you actually have to prove a salary amount of more than 36000€/year. If you earn below that you can apply to a "travailleur temporaire" visa if you're on a CDD or to a "salarié" visa if you're on a CDI. The difference between the two is that the "travailleur temporaire" visa will expire when your CDD expires (you can renew it before that of course); and the "salarié" visa is one year long renewable to 4 years (then 10 years or more if I'm not mistaken). Having a 36000€/year salary is of course a privilege when you're working in most of the "régions" in France as the salaries are usually below parisian salaries. So I can safely say from my experience as a foreigner and from every other foreigner I know is that the "travailleur temporaire" and the "salarié" visas are more common than the "passeport talent". Thanks for sharing your experience!!

Thank you Rosie for fantastic video, as I am as well finishing up my MSc in July and my visa expires in January. I was just reading up today about renewal options as I look for internship. Looking forward your 👩🏻 transformation and say hi to Gigi from me, tell her it’s Diana from 17 th 💁🏼‍♀️

This was a great video Rose thanks!

New sofa in the background 😀. Looks comfy.

I can imagine the Visa issues detract from an otherwise amazing career. I work in Leadership Development also with a HR background, very inspired by your journey abroad.

Great videoooo. Loveeee it. Big likeeee. Thanks for uploading

Hi. Great video. I will be going to Essec for masters this year and plan to do an apprenticeship either in LVMH or L’Oréal, hoping to see ur video on the LVMH apprenticeship soon 😁

Oh my goodness, Rosie, I can't believe they declined you because of that reason! (frustrating french administration once again) My husband and I got our 10 year residence last year and it was such a relief!! No more yearly visits to the prefecture and a ton of paperwork! Maybe your french citizenship will come through before the visa! :)

Thanks for making this video!

Ton parcourt force le respect ! I hope we I'll become your felow as soon as possible

I am sorry to hear that you got rejected. :( Thanks for turning it into this wonderful video. Life, lemon, lemonade.

Aww, well hopefully after another year of not being a student they'll accept it. Thank you for making these videos though, they really put into perspective how hard it is ^-^; I won't be deterred that easily! lol, but it's nice to get a glimpse of the mountain before the climb and to know these strange "secret" rules. I'm starting to feel like France is harder to get into than any other country though, I've got my work cut out for me.

Hey Rosie! Thank you for the video! I didnt know that with the APS companies wont have to sponsor you! I thought that they must sponsor u no matter which visa u have (student/APS) and post the job offer for three month and all of that. I thought APS was only in case one doesn’t find a job before the end of the student visa. Btw i think one of the reasons why your 10 year visa got rejected is because they are studying ur naturalization file and soon to send you your acceptance for the nationality! (Not sure but happened to my friend, visa got rejected and she received her papers few months later)

I just had a visa issue, couldn’t even submit my application, because I didn’t have something that was not written on the website! It was also only on an internal document. Ugh! Thanks for sharing your experiences though!

I am moving to Paris in July and would love to find a job in english. I'd love to see your video about finding a job there. I am a wedding and event planner here in the US and a floral designer as well. I only have intermediate level french. Not sure where to start. I do have EU citizenship so that's the one positive thing, and I speak 3 languages fluently. Merci!!

I would love to hear about how you set yourself up for your online work. Micro-entrepreneur? Libérale? I'm thinking about working online and am baffled by the administration aspect of it.

Wow, I am impressed at your thoroughness! (I had guessed that you worked at l'Oréal, but I had assumed that you wanted to keep it a secret.) The good news is that you'll be eligible next year, right? And you've already prepared your dossier, and so you won't have much work to do to get ready for your appointment next year -- except to add a year of tax returns, right?

Hi Rosie, I recommend applying for French nationality too. It's no harder, and protects you against any eventuality (say, if you decide you want to live in another country for 3 years). Being able to vote and being fully French has many benefits. Then would your chanel become : "Even French" ?

Hi Rosie, I wonder if your student years count as half time in France (as it is done in some EU countries) or as 0 time? In Czechia when you need 5 years towards permanent residency, 3 years of uni = 1,5 years towards residency permit. So after 3 years of school you would need additional 3,5 years on one of the working visas or temporary residency permits... I'm sure you will get it soon. The time goes by quickly and you already have all of the other points covered!

Your resilience really inspires me! I felt bad to hear your residency permit was denied, after all of that paperwork, I would've been crushed. I don't think it's very fair to not let people know that the years as a student don't count for the permit, it should definitely be written somewhere at least!

Please tell us about your experience in LVMH!

Hi Rosie! Great, informative video. Thank you! I am very interested in your time at LVMH. When might we be able to expect that video? Can’t wait to hear more!

I guess the support from the company depends on how important you are for the company. I got a proposal for a financial consultant and they will do a visa for me, I am 20 y.o. and just finished my Bachelors and don’t even have the diploma yet. So, it really depends on your motivation and their motivation to hire you :)

Hi Rosie! Thanks for sharing your story, that is inspiring. After all, it seems getting a French citizenship is much easier than getting a 10-year card... Could you tell us more about your work and hiring experience? From your video I get an impression that you've been moving almost effortlessly from one job to another in big French companies, while primarily worrying about the visa, not about the jobs. Was it that easy for you? Did you have a lot of colleagues, who were employed without an apprenticeship or an internship? That seems strange for me, because for now I'm struggling to get out of a "rejection bubble" here in France (with a top-tier education, fluent French, English and Russian + 4 more languages; more than 10 years of executive experience - and not a single interview invitation). Probably, the only particularity for me was that I didn't do any internships or apprenticeships here - and I wonder if that's the reason French HRs filter out my profile?

Inventory your family tree. There may be a EU nation state that hands you their nationality without much hassle. E.g. Ireland has a relatively simple procedure if you have ancestry from there.

Oh my god dossiers of any kind can seriously do one! - no I don’t have my dead grandmas tax return from 20 years ago !!

Rosie is such a nice person, she should get a permanent global visa. Any country would be lucky to have her as it's citizen.

thank you for that great video Rosie!! You're so right when you say that we don't realize how hard it is for non EU citizens! We're so used to this EU convenience now that we tend to forget that VISAS actually exist! Does it mean that you'll be able to apply to the VISA (that rejected you) next year? Did you consider asking for French citizenship? (and keeping yours as well, having what we call "la double nationalité"?) Good luck with the rest of the process and I can't wait to see your next video!

Le truc qui me choque dans cette dernière histoire de visa est que le fonctionnaire vous parle d'un texte qui, a priori, pose une condition que vous ne connaissiez pas mais qu'il ne peut pas vous montrer le document parce que ce serait un document interne. Si j'ai bien compris ce dont vous parliez, il s'agirait d'une circulaire, or en droit administratif français, une circulaire est inopposable à un administré. En clair, c'est un document fait pour aider le fonctionnaire à appliquer la loi mais celui-ci peut contenir des erreurs, il peut être orienté pour appliquer la loi d'une certaine manière mais ce n'est pas la loi. Si vous avez un refus, celui-ci doit être basé sur la loi et les textes réglementaires, pas sur une circulaire. Ce qui vous est arrivé est donc particulièrement choquant. Il est heureux que cela n'ait pas de graves conséquences sur votre vie de tous les jours mais cela reste choquant.

Im a Creative Director moving to Besançon in June and getting PACSed and am having a hard time finding job to sponsor me. I dont speak french but I’m learning and i know theres jobs in Paris is but thats 4.5 hours away so that wouldnt work cause we need to live together for the 12 months so I can apply for the family visa. ☹️ i deff need ur next video asap on finding a job. but outside of paris

I have some friends who would like to live in France, I'm sure this video will help them a lot ! Thank you for sharing ^^ Do you have some french people who work in english at your job?

This was very interesting. We actually share a former employer, but I worked on the science/fashion side. How did you like LVMH compared to L'Oreal? Also, does France have a marriage visa or is everything PACs? Thanks so much for sharing.

If an "honours year" is the equivalent of a Master 1 in France, then it is the équivalent of the first year of a Masters in the UK. Lots (most?) Bachelor's degrees in the UK are honours degrees. Note that the basic rule is that to be an intern, you have to be enrolled on a course of study relevant to content of your internship. In France, internships must be paid if they last for more than 2 months (i.e. if an internship is to last for more than 308 hours, it must be paid from the 1st hour). Below 308 hours, there is no obligation to pay the intern ("stagiaire"), although some do. No internship may last for more than 6 months (924 h) whether paid or unpaid. For more info, see: www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/F20559 Note also that content/organisation of time between on-the-job experience and the time spent studying vary from course to course and from one uni/école to another. Many masters programmes in France require an internship to be done, but it is not the case for all.

I felt your pain about student years not counting, I know many people who wanted to apply for permanent residency in Scotland for after brexit but our student years don't count either :( it's ridiculous

Hi Rosie! Great video! You mentioned a program for your masters that you work and study. Where can I find those programs? Thank you so much!

Thanks for such a great video. Could you let me know that were you allowed for apprenticeship even without French language?

my daughter has been there since late 2011 and was sick and tired of applying for her visa, so she applied for her citizenship.

Very useful and interesting (we spent a year in Toulouse, long ago). regards from Anzac Day in the Antipodes.

How was it with your getting a french citizenship? I remember you made a video about that but not sure how it ended. Would that have to do something with visa process? Just asking out of curiosity, as eu citizen I luckily do not have this problem :)

Thank you for sharing your experience in this video! That was really great to be able to work at such company like LVMH. I would like to ask is it hard to find an alternance in English? Cause I'm also an international student, I speak English more than French. So I think your next video about English jobs in France would be really helpful for English speakers like us. Plus I am at Licence 1 (moving to Licence 2 next year), is it possible for company to accept Licence 1-2 student in an alternance? Thank you in advance!

My story it's not that different. Applying for my Vie Privée et Familiale in June. Récepissé for the moment and working for LVMH! HA.

Did you make a video on how to find a job in France?

Another group of company with job in English is international company. I work for a German company, and everyone need to be able to work in English, including HR. Some works only in English, some other need to work in French. HR should be able to work in French for French employees. Some customers accept only French speaking, as Public sector.

"That was option A. Now, option 2..." 😂🤣❤️

Ils n'utilisent pas d'extraits de kiwi dans les crèmes et autres pommades chez L'Oréal ? Faut faire attention ;)

Can You please make a detail video about how to get relationship visa? Love your video as always !

Such a good video! I am trying to get a good remote job so I can go on a long stay visa then hopefully I’ll meet a man 😂

Do you find yourself using English words, particularly adjectives, that have French/Latin roots instead of the Germanic etc. alternatives?

Was it mandatory to write a dissertation at the end of your Master degree at Ciffop ?

I had a fashion design degree Bac+3 in France, after graduating for a year, I still couldn't find a "real" job here, I only had opportunities for intern positions, earning 600 euros per months. I can't even pay my rent with it. I will have two interview next week and it is gonna be a 6 month stage again. I hope they will hire me as CDI/CDD after 6 moths eventually. Otherwise I don't know how can I stay in France. PS I can't do APS, because I am not a master student and I can't do PACS because my boyfriend is living with his parents. Yeah. that's life! Good luck to all the people who wanna stay in France!

Very pretty😁☝️☝️ and I love this accent😁

Great video!! I have two questions: Why don't you ask a Passport Talent now? It'll give you 4 years of not dealing with admin and judging by your other video you asked for the nationality no? and 2) Is it mandatory to have a joint bank account with your PACS partner to request the carte vie familliale? Thankss!!

I wonder if your French language skills progressed much while you were in your first jobs if you spoke English most of the time. I know from your videos that you made a concerted effort last year to improve your French last year, but I wonder how things were before you did that.

You were employed during your studies, sure these years could count in your dossier. You might need a lawyer to claim this. You’ve hit the top of the french companies well done!

Also, what do you think is the most in demand jobs in France now? Is an MBA too general for French companies? Because I know in some other international studies abroad programs, they discourage getting an MBA and instead promote specialized Masters like IT - related or financial management, etc.

HI!! Do you have any recommendations for finding english speaking tech engineering gigs in paris? :) What sites are popular, etc?

Hi Rosie, thanks for your video. How did you get the Internship at LVMH and school sponsorship? I am hoping to come study in France for my masters next year and f i can get a sponsorship, it would be great.

Helllo! I know it’s completely unrelated to this video but I cant seem to find the information anywhere else and it’s definitely something you will know. But how do you ask for tap water in France? Last time I was there they kept charging me and I kept trying to figure out how to ask for the free tap water?? Please help!

Hello Rosie, I am currently working on a way to move to France and trying to figure out visas and such. How did you find your masters program? Michelle

Hi Rosie, Am I guessing it right? After 5 yrs you can apply for a 10-year residency and then only after those 10 can you apply to be a citizen of France? Also, would you know if it’s better to take up masters in France and if I can’t find work there, would there be a possibility I could apply to another EU country like Switzerland with my French Masters Degree or should I just pursue my masters in Switzerland for example? I hope you could answer my questions 😊

i am still a little confused, you met your french partner in new zealand but when you are both living in france do you speak french at home to each other or english?

Pourquoi ne pas demander la nationalité française directement ? Tu gagneras du temps, et si tu veux faire autre chose dans un autre pays tu pourras le faire et revenir librement et sans visa😊. Avec un CV comme le tien, cela ne devrait pas trop être difficile !

Hi, I’m in Sydney and with my partner whom is French and we have a son together. We are planning on moving to France ( for my partners family) if our current de facto visa he has applied for doesn’t get accepted. Would us having a kid together make it easier per say for me to get a visa there ?

Is there a special visa for doing volunteer work?

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your story....I find it so strange that you are married to a French/European citizen and there isn’t a visa you can apply for due to that? Or a way to gain citizenship that way? Interesting because in the US if you marry an American you apply for a visa based on the marriage. Yes you have to go through interviews and provide documentation to prove your relationship is real but most people would get approved that way and obtain a green card to stay in the US

Omg just now i got to know that student year doesn't count for applying long term card. Do you think is there any alternative for a student who haven't completed their study could renew the visa ?

The company paid you monthly 3 months before you start? That's unheard of in new Zealand

What is the best visa I could apply, I have my sister there she is already a resident, but she has no job, but her husband does, can her husband sponsor me to have a long term residency visa?? What will I have to do or requirements because I want to move there and work also.

I have got tire Sejour but I wanted to take APS but they didn’t gave me. So in future my visa won’t get rejected?

Hi Rosie, I am thinking of moving to France in a few years. I will be almost 45 years old when I am ready to move. I live in the United States. Can I still pursue a masters degree at this age in France ? In the US, it is not that uncommon to have non traditional students (basically adults in their 30s and beyond) return to school for another degree. What about in Paris ? I am also a medical doctor with an American MD. Will I be able to work in France as a doctor ? Thanks in advance !

Bonjour, je suis nouveau mais j'ai vu beaucoup de tes vidéos. C'est agréable de t'écouter car tu fais un réel effort pour nous comprendre. Personnellement, j'habite à Tahiti très jeune depuis mes 7 ans. Donc si ça interrese quelqu'un voici mon expérience. A Tahiti il y a la mixité américain français. Je veux dire niveau culturel. Par exemple un tahitien te dira j'aime la bouffe française car il y a de bonne chose à manger. J'aime la bouffe américaine car les verres de coca sont grandes comme ça. Les tahitiens sont comme les américains chaleureux et souriants toujours prêt à aider. Pour cette raisons ils préfèrent parmi les français les militaires. De plus, les officiers militaires aiment bien les recruter car ils sont très fort fraternellement. Ils ont en gros l'esprit militaire. C'est pas pour rien qu'ils s'entendent bien. La nourriture est de provenance américaine. Donc ogm moi ça ne me dérange pas car j'en ai toujours mangé mais je sais dérangera le français moyen. Mais aussi d'Argentine et de Nouvelle Zélande. Il y a notre propre sécurité sociale donc pas de caisse d'état. Alors ne venez pas à Tahiti sur un coup de tête. Travailler dans ce service est mal vu chez nous car il y a eu des scandales â répétition. Par contre le fondateur et ancien chef de ce service a été aimé. La seule chose qu'on lui reprochait ( plutôt un sujet taquin ) c'est qu'il était obèse mais qu'il faisait des préventions contre ça. Pour le plan travail c'est la mémé chose qu'en France sauf que le réseau me semble encore plus important. Car les entreprises sont presque quasiment composé de connaissance de patron ou cadre. Pas de connaissance d'un employé sauf si l'employé est de la famille du patron. La bise existe mais entre inconnu ou simple connaissance une poignée de main est plus adapté. La bise est au dessus. Et pour les vraiment proches comme la famille ou amis mais ça marche aussi si tu le connais moi dans ce cas, il faut que le tahitien ait suffisamment confiance en toi ; c'est l'embrassa de mais attention elle n'a rien à voir avec celle française. Il y a une position bien particulière, plu axée sur l'épaule. Pour finir ce long post, si tu communique avec un tahitien surtout prenez le temps de lui parler, ne le vouvoyez pas ça n'existe pas là bas et ça fait français snob, et tu es bien vu là bas. Moi ça fait 16 ans que je suis là bas j'ai 23 ans j'ai donc grandi avec eux j'ai donc une place dans leur cœur car je répond à leur attente. Je suis en quelque sorte un tahitien de non souche.Ceux qu'ils détestent ce sont les français qui se croient chez eux la France donneur de leçons et nostalgique de leur pays. Ça tu peux étre sûr qu'ils ne les écouteront pas. Sur ce je vous laisse et pour Rosie à la prochaine vidéo.

I’m confused. Am I wrong or did you not recently become a French citizen? If you did, why the need for a visa?

If you are married, living and working in French (5 years?) surely there is a type of permanent citizenship kind of visa for that for permanent residency, and right to work status in France? (I know that there seems to be a lot of different visas available depending on circumstances.)

Can you apply for citizenship?

How did you go about getting an apprentissage as non-EU individual?

With regard to the time spent in France with a student status, you can see here that it does not count, or rather, you can see what time does count. If not mentioned, then I suppose it does not count: www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F17359

can a get a job or survive in france with a visitor visa?

Welcome to France and its Administration, complex, abyssdeep, disturbing, incoherent. If you haven't yet, I recommend you watch "Les 12 travaux d'Asterix". You'll get a small tip of what FranceAdministration looks like. In French we have an expression to describe L'Administration : we compare it to a "mille-feuilles".

Can I find a job if I was tourist visa?

Wait I'm confused. Didn't you get married? You can't get French citizenship through that?

I didn't know there was sponsorship for job in my country, also a first time. In a nutshell I enjoy your videos but at the same time I'm often thinking what part of France are you in, what kind of french people surround and what very special situation do you have, like are we talking about the same France ?! xD Oh my you did your apprentissage at LVMH, one of the biggest enemy of the french people, well I'm not judging, I mean a foreign who wants to learn french, study and work here I find it cool, but damn LVMH! You couldn't pick any worse company! "Ouh là là !" I find it kinda funny when you said "so french" because indeed at the beginning, it is. But nowadays, I'd rather say "so USA" xD

I subscribed for your videos not because I'm considering moving to France but because I've been here for 48 years and had my reasons for moving from the US, but your reasons were not the same: For you, it seems originally to have been a whim, something like "Let's go live abroad... where shall I go?... Europe sounds good... Let's try Paris..." and then you got hooked. My move was decided more quickly: I had to escape the racism in the US, so I thought: California? Japan? France? In about a month, my mind was made up.

Hello

where are you from originally?